Pleurocutaneous fistula after tube thoracostomy: Sonographic findings
✍ Scribed by Ming-Tzer Lin; Jin-Yuan Shih; Yung-Chie Lee; Pan-Chyr Yang
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 2008
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 122 KB
- Volume
- 36
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0091-2751
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Abstract
Pleurocutaneous fistula is defined as a pathologic communication between the pleural space and the subcutaneous tissues. It can occur as a complication of an infectious process, neoplasm, foreign body aspiration, or iatrogenic procedures. Diagnosis is usually made on imaging studies, such as CT. We describe a 72‐year‐old woman with esophageal cancer who underwent chest tube placement for postesophagectomy drainage. After removal of the chest tube, a right chest wall mass was noted. Transcutaneous sonographic evaluation confirmed the diagnosis of pleurocutaneous fistula. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Ultrasound, 2008